Emily and the Dream
by JoeBoBean
Summary: Post finale, what happens if it wasn't Will there in her bed? Sure he was at the door, sure she wanted to let him in and see where it would go, but she isn't going to leap, not with Will, not four years too late when there is a resident that she can't get off her mind. It doesn't hurt that she knows the resident can't stop thinking of her either.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: _So thanks to amazon prime instant video I watched this instead of season 2 of Revenge after I had caught up with Nurse Jackie. I was so happy that it felt like the first series of Grey's Anatomy in tone and pace, I fell in love with Micah and his dynamic with Emily. I was elated when they sort of got together and screaming at my tv when I got to the end and that happened. For me it was a replay of Derek choosing Addison on Grey's which was when I started to tune out of that series. I love bumpy roads in relationships, I get that she needed to get Will out of her system, but at the price of Micah? I didn't like it. So I took to my keyboard and wrote this. It's a few hours worth of work and proofed, but its far from perfect. I have no idea if I will make it go further or if it will end up as a one shot. We'll just have to see how much Micah haunts me.

Also thanks to viro1312 who told me that the file had corrupted itself. I have no idea how that happened.

* * *

Meep, meep, meep, meep.

Emily could hear the incessant noise filter through her consciousness so rolled towards the sound only to hit a solid mass of muscle, a very warm, very unwelcome solid mass of muscle. She cracked an eye open to see perfect tanned skin and a head of brown hair. The owner of the sculptured body opened his warm brown eyes and smiled showing his perfectly even white teeth.

"Morning," Will murmured over the alarm.

"No, no, no." Emily cried, "I am so over you!"

"I'm not so sure the last six hours agree with you Em," he stated grinning. Emily felt the tears pricking at the back of her eyes,

"Micah," she whispered as the pain engulfed her.

"You should have thought of that before you let me through the door." He replied his voice like honey sticking to all the guilt she was trying so hard not to feel, but the gnawing in her stomach had started and she was beginning to feel nauseous.

Meep, meep, meep, meep.

Emily sat bolt upright in bed rivulets of cold sweat running down her back. She looked towards her alarm clock and saw that the bed next to her was blissfully empty and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The pillows weren't slept on and the sheets were still cold. It had all been a dream a delicious dream, but a dream none the less.

Dreams weren't real. Dreams were dreams. Just because she had dreamed about Will, did not and does not mean that she wasn't over him. He was a truly attractive man, anyone that met him would dream about him. So it was perfectly okay for her to dream about him… and her… going at it against every surface in her apartment. That was totally normal.

Who was she kidding?! She knew she was going to hell.

The thing with letting go she decided is that you have to do it every day. It's not a one-time thing. It isn't an easy fix. You can't be like _hey you mean nothing to me now _even if you wish that was the case because if you do you are lying. Not only that, but you are the worst kind of liar. You can't go from wanting with every cell of your being to unconcerned and cold, it isn't how we are made; try as we might in situations that make you want to cry all the time.

No matter how many times she told herself there was, there isn't a switch that you could flip. She didn't just stop wanting Will; with every bated breath, but she did see his flaws. Not the made up; he is three inches too tall kind of flaws, but the; he was willing to not celebrate her achievement because being rude and horrible were things that people needed to feel compassion for. Or the condescending way he would talk to her about Cassandra as if Emily was always the one at fault, or the look he would give Micah when he was just being the way Micah had always been towards Emily. The more she noticed the little things, the easier it got.

So every day she squished the feelings down and thought less about them. Which worked perfectly well; she had enough to think about with her new responsibilities and her office without thinking about how good Will looked changing out of his scrubs at the end of the day or how his glasses sometimes slipped down his nose and he would push them back up with one finger or that when he ordered coffee he always made sure he got her the right one.

The worst thing with moving on is that there is always a rebound, a person that would suture the wounds of a broken heart, would crack open the chest and start compressions to get the heart started again. A person that would bring you an office chair and a poster for skin cancer, just because they know you need it. They are the people that willingly give heroin addicts' methadone, the ones that fight tirelessly against things they can't change; the people who tend to love the longest when all hope is gone.

They don't have white chargers and shining armour, they have their hearts on their sleeves and a smile in their eyes. They are the ones you deserve, but never truly know you want. Until it is too late that is.

Dealing with the white chargers and armour is easier because when you get burned you know it's because you set the bar to high. When you hurt the perfect person… your perfect person or they hurt you; it's not something you can get over.

She didn't want Micah to be her rebound, not that she and Will had ever had anything to rebound from, but she knew deep down that Micah being the way he was, charming, smart, sweet, cute, adorable, funny and even sexy when he took control of the situation were making her fall for him and she knew she didn't want to hurt him, but she also knew that he deserved the truth even though it was as twisted as a cinnamon pretzel.

Relationships had to be built on trust and if she didn't trust herself what hope did she have with Micah. She knew that she had chosen, at least somewhere deep inside she had.

Chosen: verb; the past participle of choose.

Choose: verb; to select from a number of possibilities, to prefer and decide.

That is what Will had done he had chosen, but only when he was given an ultimatum. He had selected her out of the two possibilities he had and Emily would admit that it was romantic, but it was four years too late and five months too long. She had been subjected to each and every girl that Will had ever dated; from the not all there hippies on campus to the tight skirted fashion models. His looks brought in them all. She had seen them go in and out of his life like dance partners on a dance card and each and every waltz she was left as a wall flower. The one time she asked him to dance she was told no.

So why did she feel so good about the fact that he would pick her now? She knew it was because the insecure high school version of herself felt proud that she had beaten Cassandra once more and didn't that just make her a peach of a girl.

_Stupid brain, stupid heart, stupid Will._

But Micah he didn't choose her because he had to. Emily wasn't even sure he had picked her at all. The more she thought about her friendship the more it became clear that she had been blind to his affection all along. His reluctance at dating Kelly, his break up with Kelly and the distance he put between them saying they should be professional. In retrospect they all made sense. She had been so hung up on Will that she hadn't noticed and if she was honest with herself she hadn't even wanted to. The sun rose and set with Will Collins.

But no longer….

Okay the sun still rose with him, but it didn't set with him anymore. She was getting over him. She had to for her sanity.

She glanced at her clock and groaned as her inner monologue was going to make her late for work.

Perfect, just perfect.

_Come on Owens new dawn, new day, a date with Micah. No more Will._ She thought to herself as she crawled out of bed and made it to the shower.

Half an hour later she rolled up at the hospital feeling guilty, but that isn't anything new, Emily always feels guilty. No matter how many times she says she won't feel guilty this time she always does. She feels guilty about Micah, about the dream, about the fact that they won't be able to cure Joyce, about Tyra and hot Molly (though she has no idea why), about Cassandra and Will, it was her fault after all that they broke up. Oh and about Kelly, since the looks she'd been receiving seemed to hint that Kelly knew about Micah's feelings for Emily, before Emily ever knew they existed.

"Morning Pits," Cassandra called as Emily got out of her car, _don't respond, that is what she lives for, give her a smile and walk right on by, don't ask her about Will, don't make small talk just make it to rounds in one piece._

"Morning Cassandra." She supplied walking towards the entrance at a stupidly fast pace for the middle of winter. Not that it seemed to stop Cassandra who caught up and kept pace with her.

"So Will came to see me last night in a state." Cassandra chortled as they walked through the doors in to the hospital. "He said he told you that he chose you and that you walked out on him, then that he went to your apartment and that you wouldn't let him in." Cassandra stopped and touched Emily's elbow to stop her forward momentum. When Emily turned around to look at Cassandra there was genuine emotion in her eyes, "Good for you Pits." She said before the mask fell back in to place. "So we are back together for the moment. Make up sex? Even better than break up sex." Cassandra winked at her and Will walked out of the changing room heading towards them, his eyes lingered on Emily more than unusual, but she shook it off, _don't react, don't let them see. No one needs to know about the sordid fantasy in your head._

She found herself waving awkwardly before walking in to her office come medical supply closet and of course the morning couldn't get any better for her as Micah was sat on her desk with a delighted smile on his face. _Why now? Why couldn't I get a moment to prepare?_ Her face must have showed her distress as the smile on Micah's lips fell and a furrow appeared between his brows.

"Is everything okay?" he asked standing up from the desk and raising a hand towards her cheek. Before she could stop herself Emily flinched and Micah caught it, there was only a small amount of movement, but after five months of watching her, Micah never missed a beat. He could feel his cheeks flame in embarrassment as the anger started to boil his blood. He clenched his fist and stepped back from Emily hoping that she couldn't read him as well as he could read her.

"It's not what you think." She stammered and he knew he hadn't got away clean.

"I think you are going to tell me that you take back what you said yesterday and that you aren't over Will." Micah ground out, he watched as she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly and in that moment of indecision he knew he was right. Not wanting to show her the pain the idea caused he side stepped her and left her in her office a stunned look making her eyes widen in shock.

"Please let this be a dream," she muttered as she pushed a pen around her desk, "Please let me wake up now." _Of course you know it's not that easy Owens. You made your bed, you sleep in it and you sleep in it alone!_

It was at that very moment she knew it was going to be a twelve hour shift from hell.

"Doctor Owens, will you please present?" The ice cold voice of Doctor Bandari almost shrilled like her alarm clock as she stood in the patient's room in a trance. Flustered she almost dropped the chart, Cassandra looked amused, Tyra looked lost, but certainly interested, Will looked concerned and Micah was absent. He had made his excuses to Bandari without giving Emily a second glance. She had then spent rounds thinking of ways to make Micah understand that what he thought had happened wasn't what he thought had happened. Not that it made much difference it wasn't like he had been entirely wrong. _Stupid feelings, stupid Will, stupid life._

"Doctor Owens?" She was asked again, clearing her throat she presented her case, it wasn't ground breaking, she wasn't even sure the patient needed surgery. It was a simple laceration on the thigh that was nowhere near the femoral artery and had no sign of infection. It was self-inflicted on a fishing trip and it seemed that the only reason he was being treated by Bandari was because he was a chair on the board of directors to the hospital.

Emily wondered what the point was, you get a cut on your thigh when you are stupid enough to gut a fish with what she assumed was a machete on your lap.

"Pulled a doozie there didn't you," Cassandra joked as they walked out the patients room. "Can't always be the superstar." She added with a flick of her hair. In that moment all Emily wanted to do was hide in her office and start making list of the patients she had to interview. Colour coding and organisation she could handle. Chaos and life on the other hand… not so much.

Instead she decided to accidentally lose her pager in the drawer of her desk and hide in the records room. It was quiet in there and peaceful and unlike the roof people rarely went in. It reminded Emily of the library shelves filled with musty smelling paper and manila folders. Dust motes dancing in the light that slipped through the blinds. In the summer she could imagine the place would be cool a safe haven, but as the temperature dropped outside this room seemed to be the warmest in the hospital; it felt like home.

She found the middle aisle and lay down on the right hand side turning slightly to face the invisible Micah. She imagined him there head propped up on his arm as he looked at her with such adoration lighting up his dark brown eyes.

"Micah, I was so sure that it was done, but you and everyone else were right, there is no switch no magical cure. I pushed the feelings down to let others grow? No that isn't right. He came to my apartment and begged to be let in, but I left him in the hallway. I didn't want to hurt you. No he doesn't want to hear that either, he doesn't want my pity. I was so flustered this morning because I had a stupid dream about Will where I hurt you, which was worse than anything I could imagine. I'm sorry. I know I say it a lot, it's one of my flaws; sometimes I say it so often that I think I'm doing it as a knee jerk reaction; violent and unstoppable, but I am sorry Micah. I know you don't want to hear this, but after four years he finally said he had chosen me. Eventually after all this time I was the one he wanted. Freshman Emily in that moment rejoiced, it was all she had ever dreamed of. All she had ever wanted, but intern Emily knew it wasn't real. Yes somewhere I still have feelings for him, but I never changed my mind about you. You chose me without an ultimatum, you saw me; for me ever since the first words you spoke to me. I don't know who I am without Will in my life as I have never tired, but I know who I would be without you. I'd be empty. I wouldn't be whole. I'd hurt, you and Joyce are family to me and I don't want to lose that. I want to take the risk, leap before I look. I want to take the risk with you." She finished to the air next to her. Why was it always easier to say everything she wanted to in a quiet room on her own, but not to the person that really mattered?

"Are you sure about that?" A warm voice asked from the aisle next to the one that she was lying in and she sat up fast.

"Micah?" she asked tentatively as she stood up and walked around the shelves. There on the floor of the next aisle was Micah his head resting on his knees with his hands braced on his neck. At the sound of her voice so close he looked up and smiled.

"Why didn't you just say that Owens?" he asked looking bemused.

"Say what?" Emily asked as she sat down next to him so their knees were touching.

"Everything," he replied sheepishly. "I got jealous and when I needed you to tell me the truth you bailed, you panicked and couldn't form words. It made me so mad that I couldn't see straight. I couldn't be around you so I went to see my mom."

"How is she?" Emily asked taking his hand carefully in hers; she didn't want to crowd him it had been a long morning.

"In pain," he said after a sigh, "Asking after you though. She wants to know if I finally asked you out." Emily glanced at Micah's face trying to gauge his reaction to his own words and seeing the light in his eyes she smiled,

"So what did you tell her?" she asked biting her lip teasingly,

"That I had to figure out if I wanted to leap before I looked and if I wanted to risk competing with a six foot, two and a half inch giant for your affections." Emily's brow furrowed adorably and Micah had to fight the urge he had to kiss her, he was still mad at her, but hearing all she had to say when she thought he wasn't there made it hard to stay as mad at her as he wanted to. She shook her head and Micah was confused.

"There is no competition," she whispered in his ear as she placed a kiss on his cheek. "You chose me first." At hearing those words all the pain and anger he had let bubble to the surface melted and he kissed Doctor Emily Owens for the second time and it was better than the first.

"So this dream?" Micah asked a little while later as they were having a picnic lunch on the record room floor, "What are we talking about? Walking down the aisle to see Will there and not me?" he asked and chuckled at the look on Emily's face,

"I liked you," she stammered, "And I did say I can be a barnacle, but slow down Barnes." She finished with a smile.

"Oh so it was like that then," Micah said his brow furrowed again, "How hot are we talking here, was it warming by the fire or fifty shades hot and dirty?" Emily felt uncomfortable, but Micah seemed relaxed,

"I'd rather not talk about it." She stated stuffing a sandwich in her mouth.

"That good huh?" he asked the colour draining from his face a little and Emily felt guilty. "Well it looks like I'm just going to have to be better." He murmured close to her ear before he nipped her ear lobe, Emily felt herself gasp in surprise as her heart skipped a beat. "Later Owens I will show you the time of your life,"

"Promise?" She asked timidly as she looked up at him from under her eyelashes.

"Promise," he said as he put out his pinkie and wrapped it around hers. Emily gulped the remainder of her lunch and couldn't make eye contact with Micah as she knew deep inside that this was going to be her last first date.

Finally she had chosen.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Sorry it has taken me so long, I work stupidly long hours and all my ideas dried up like the Sahara._

_Thanks for all the support. There will be more. Just don't wait up for it xxx_

* * *

It all started with a post-it note stuck to the door of her office.

_Tickled Ivory, 7pm, wear something nice M x_

It was a brief and sweet missive that sent Emily in to a tail spin. _Something nice?! What on earth does that entail?_ She thought as she sorted through patient files; she knew from experience that her view on something nice was planets away from what everyone else thought. Which usually meant she stood as a wallflower slightly embarrassed at her newest fashion faux pas. As she idly tapped her pen on the side of her keyboard she thought of the dress she wore to the gala and remembered that it had got everyone's attention in the best way possible, but even she knew it was too dressy for a first date… that and Micah had seen it before.

Thinking about her wardrobe too much just made her sad, so she gave up and phoned the one person she knew would be able to help her out of her clothing rut.

"Well I can say this is not the thing I normally do," Tyra mused as she sat on edge of Emily's desk noisily slurping a milkshake, "I normally dress to impress the ladies, I have little to no idea what men like."

"Ack!" Emily exclaimed as she let her head fall heavily on her desk, "But isn't it the same thing?" She asked her voice muffled by all the files she was resting on. Trya tapped her chin with her index finger,

"In theory… yes. In practice? I have no idea." She stood up and smoothed down her scrubs. "I suppose we don't need to impress Micah as he is already crazy about you." Emily looked up from her desk and glared at Tyra, "What?" she asked in all innocence, "Why mince words?" Emily dropped her head on to her desk again in exasperation. "Anyway you still need to get something nice, so you are going to have to move that cute butt and follow me." Tyra said as she headed for the door,

"I do not have a cute butt," Emily whined.

"Aww hun," Tyra replied in mock soothing tones, "You really are blind aren't you?"

Hours later Emily was stood outside of the _Tickeld Ivory_ and the butterflies were back in her stomach. She knew she shouldn't be nervous, after all Micah was her best friend and everyone knows you are supposed to marry your best friend. Though she had to admit that was jumping the gun a bit since only five minutes ago she was convinced she was going to spend forever with Will. She moved cautiously from one foot to the other waiting for her nerves to settle when Micah came around the corner.

Any fear she had evaporated in the instant that his eyes found hers. His brown eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and his mouth twisted up in to a wry grin. She was waiting for a _why Owens you scrub up nice,_ but instead he put his hand out for her to take and said.

"You look beautiful." Emily felt herself blush violently in response, "You ready?" he asked her a heartbeat later; not trusting her tongue to speak Emily nodded and was gladly led through the art deco doors in to the warm interior of the bar.

_Beautiful?! Jeez man that word doesn't even begin to cover it!_ Micah chastised himself mentally as they were sat at their table near the stage. Out of all the words in the English language he picked beautiful; not that Emily wasn't normally beautiful. She was and he had noticed it the first day he had met her, but in that dress… she was exquisite. She was stunning, breath taking, she was damn right gorgeous and he was going to make her understand that before the night was over. He had no idea where she had found it, or who helped her have enough confidence to buy it, but he would start praising them daily for it.

The dress could stop traffic; literally! It was red and fitted Emily as if it were made just for her. The neck was asymmetric and showed off just the right amount of collar bone as it cut from high on her right shoulder to low on her left. The fabric seemed to mould to all of her curves and from what he could tell anyplace where her body didn't make a curve the darts in the dress made one for her. As she took her jacket off and handed in over to the coat check he smiled as he saw the little sleeves that made the dress just a little more Emily. Her hair was braided down her back and his fingers were itching to feel her hair flow over them as he loosened each twist in the braid.

It was the shoes however that took him most by surprise. He had expected her to wear cute little ballet pumps, but no she matched the red dress with a pair of red heels that meant she was now at eye level with him. Not that he would ever admit it out loud, but he liked it. As he sat in his chair he realised he was staring so quickly looked down at the menu instead.

"How do you know about this place?" Emily asked after a few minutes of silence and Micah looked up in to her blue eyes and couldn't help, but smile.

"I could tell you that," He stopped himself from saying Owens since they were no longer in work, but it took effort, "Emily, but then I would inevitably have to kill you." Emily blushed again and glanced down at her menu, he knew she was about to ask him what was good, but Pierre appeared at his elbow.

"Are you ready big shot?" his old friend asked in hushed tones so Emily couldn't hear.

"As I'll ever be," he murmured back. He looked up and saw that Emily was eyeing them suspiciously and in that moment he would have given anything to be inside that crazy mind of hers.

"I'll be right back," he said to her and stood up to follow Pierre, but before he rounded the stage he looked back and saw the frown creasing Emily's brow and he went back to her. "It will all make sense in a minute." He found himself saying before he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Okay," she sighed as she looked up at him, "But hurry back." She whispered, "I'll get lonely." He felt the crooked grin that twisted his features as he replied.

"Right you are boss." Emily wrinkled her nose at the statement and Micah thought it was the sweetest thing he had ever seen. He turned to see Pierre glaring at him across the restaurant, "I've really got to go," he said half-heartedly, but when Emily nodded and smiled he felt instantly better so he turned on his heel and headed out of the dining room.

Emily hadn't been on too many dates, but she was pretty sure that leaving your date on her own; was a really big no no. To her mind it was slightly less of a big no no than leaving someone at the altar, but it was up there with stealing candy from children and kicking puppies. She knew she was frowning as the man that had taken Micah away got on stage, but she couldn't help it and she knew she couldn't stop it. This was a mark against him now and he had made such a good promise.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man who took Micah away said, "We have a surprise here tonight at the _Tickled Ivory_ a friend of mine that hasn't been on this stage in at least five years wants to play for you tonight. Please can I hear it for Micah Barnes." There was a tepid round of applause and Emily sat unable to move as Micah walked up to the sleek black grand piano on the centre of the stage. He sat down on the stool and smiled as he raised the microphone to his lips.

"Thank you for that warm welcome ladies and gentlemen," he murmured huskily in to the microphone the sarcasm barely discernible. "I know I haven't played here at this piano for years, but I do regularly practice, so I'm hoping I don't embarrass myself too much." He touched a key and the sound was clear as crystal so he touched another, in seconds his fingers were dancing over the keys and the restaurant was filled with a jazz piece that Emily didn't recognise, but she couldn't look away as the song turned in to _Georgia on My Mind_ and Micah began to sing. His voice was deep and husky as he sang seemingly in to the piano as if no one else was there. Emily watched in awe as his fingers found the keys with ease as his voice swiftly found the notes and lyrics he needed. As he finished _Gerogia on My Mind_ his fingers seamlessly found the keys to start _Cry Me a River_ and he sang along to that and as Emily looked around she found that everyone else in the restaurant was as mesmerised as she was.

He sat straight at the piano in his black jacket and crisp white shirt open at the collar as his arms moved in perfect motion up and down the keys teasing the most glorious sounds from the instrument. Emily wished it would never end, but soon enough he looked out at the audience and smiled at her.

"Ladies and gentlemen this I am afraid this will be my last song." Emily was not the only one in the house that mumbled in complaint at that statement. "This one is for a very special person to me," he said and smiled at Emily again before he hit the first key and sang, "You can dance; every dance with the guy, who gives you the eye, let him hold you tight…" Emily felt shivers all over her body as the goose bumps started in her scalp and flowed all the way to her toes. She had never had anyone sing to her before and the further through the song he got the more he looked her way and smiled. Each time she saw the flash of white teeth the shivers would start again and as he finished she felt the flush of heat cover her face and neck as he stared at her from the stage before he stood and bowed to a standing ovation.

He stepped off the stage after giving a bow to his new fans and walked straight to Emily as if no on in the rest of the establishment mattered.

"You were wonderful," she stammered, as he approached her; his eyes warm and hungry.

"Thank you," he murmured as he closed the distance between them. "After the amazing cello recital at your birthday I thought I should respond in kind." He said his lips mere inches from hers.

"What do you mean Micah?" Emily asked her voice hitching as she tried to catch her breath from having him so close.

"Well Miss Owens you play the cello so well that you leave men that usually have cool heads; confused as to which way is up. I was attracted to you before you played the cello, but after that I was in love with you Emily. Do you understand now?" he asked and Emily bit her lip not really knowing how to respond, but wishing that he would just kiss her and stop the torment. He closed the distance between them and brushed her lips lightly with his own to yet another round of applause. Emily felt herself go beet red and went to hide her face behind her hands only to be stopped at the last minute by Micah as he captured her face between his hands and kiss her again so passionately she felt it in her toes. "Have I beaten the dream yet?" he asked with soft amusement against her lips. Emily bit her lip again and instead of using words she nodded, "Good," Micah said gently as he cradled her head, "Because I hate to lose."

_I'm not sure that it's a competition anymore_ Emily thought as she leant in to Micah again and felt his practiced and perfect lips mould her own to his. _There is no going back now_ Emily added mentally _as I don't like to lose either. _


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Hi guys, so sorry I've been absent for so long... I've had a promotion at work and well its more stress than I think I ever dreamed it would be. It doesn't leave me much time to write. I'm going to make an effort now though. I've just introduced my mother to Emily and the gang and she loved it as much as me; she has yet to see "Emily and the Leap" yet, but as I've just re-watched it my righteous anger is back so bare with me. I'm having a major Justin Hartley is so hot, but I hate Will Collins moment. Even saying that Micah wins hands down. I'd marry Micah-mouse in a heartbeat._

_I'm sorry for any errors in this; I haven't checked it like a billion times. xxx_

His fingers brushed lightly at her collar and she could feel the slight hardness of calluses on his fingertips; which made her wonder suddenly where he had gotten them from. The thought flitted away as soon as his lips found the sensitive skin of her neck and she shivered in delight. His fingers halted in their exploration at her collar and made a slow torturous journey down her body, memorising each dip and curve.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered and Emily fought back the snort of disbelief at that statement as he made her feel beautiful. She also managed to keep her mouth shut so she didn't embarrass herself horribly in front of him. Sure he already knew she was a total dork, but she wanted to prove that sometimes she could be that girl. The cool a d collected one. He chuckled as he wound a strand around his finger,

"Trying to stay quiet are we?" He asked, "What happened to all the ballvery that I fell for?" Emily choked at the use of the stupidest blunder in front of a child ever and he chuckled again. "Who knew making you blush would be so fun." he whispered in to her ear as he nibbled her lobe. When he pulled her waist closer to his she felt the butterflies in her stomach go in to overdrive,

"Relax," he murmured into her collarbone as his hands slipped under her shirt, "I'm a doctor; I'll take very good care of you, leave it to me."

_Meep, meep, meep._

Emily sat up in bed and felt distinctly unsatisfied. Damn the dream for feeling so real this time. Not that the last dream hadn't felt real, she had after all woken up in a panic thinking she had made one of the stupidest mistakes of her mid-twenties.

There was something more to this dream though; the dream with Will had been make believe it was fuelled by longing and an over active imagination. In all the time she had known Will the only thing that she had ever gotten from him was that drunken voice mail; oh and that intense stare when he had said he had chosen her. Not that it counted she told herself again ultimatums remove any pretence of choice.

With her Will fantasy she had to dream up what it would feel like to have him touch her; have him devour her lips with his own. She had never felt it. She had seen him kiss enough girls to get a good idea of what it would be like. She knew it would be wonderful, it would be one of those kisses that would make you swoon and have your foot just pop up, but having an idea and knowing were two different things.

With Micah though? She knew how it felt to have him pressed against her, his hands in her hair, his fingers dancing across her skin, his lips caressing the sensitive skin of her neck.

There was no imagination needed; what good would that be when she had the real thing?

The very vivid dream seemed to suggest to her that her brain seemed to think that Micah wasn't moving fast enough because it had been supplying its own torrid fantasies ever since their first and so far only date. Well she had to debate there was that other time in the records room when he had bought her lunch; he had told her that if she didn't have to bring lunch that would class as a date... right?! As she madly scrabbled her jumbled thoughts together the idea dawned on her that it was as if her brain couldn't get enough of Doctor Micah Barnes and that it would do anything in its power to drive her crazy. Not that it needed much help; since that first kiss in the snow she had been pretty darn certifiable.

She blew out her breath and rolled over to the cooler side of the bed trying to calm down her raging hormones and heavy breathing.

She was just about to let her eyes fall closed again to catch a few more minutes of sleep when her phone rang.

"No rest for the wicked," she grumbled as she proceeded to fall out of bed in the most unladylike manner. She stalked to the other side of her bedroom and ransacked her dresser to fine her mobile phone. When she found it she saw Tyra's number and groaned, it was her day off. She wanted the apartment to herself. She loved sharing the space with Tyra, but only in fits and starts and in the quiet times in between the craziness that seemed to surround the pair of them. She slid her finger across her flashing screen and put the phone to her ear,

"Hi Tyra," she said before her friend could get a word in, "It just so happens to be my day off... I was enjoying a lie in." Tyra snorted on the other end of the line.

"You Owens do not do lie ins. I bet you were awake at the sound of your alarm, which you had set on your day off. Then you were going to do that 'I'm having a lie in' by rolling over, but not going back to sleep."

_Damn Owens! _Emily thought, _She had you bang to rights, maybe Will was right and you are predictable?_

"Was I right?" Tyra asked overtly chirpy over the phone line. Emily mumbled her response so low that the words were unrecognisable. On the other end of the line Emily could hear Tyra wooping her triumph. Emily bit her lip so she wouldn't speak out. Eventually when her irrational urge to scream at Tyra had waned she asked the question that had eluded her since she picked up the call.

"What do you want?" Emily questioned and she chewed on her lip in a nervous manner, she had no plans and really wanted to stay at home. It had been a very long week.

"Just letting you know roomie I won't be coming home tonight, hot, hawt, hot, booty call!" The way Tyra said it sounded so much like a guy bragging to his friends about his latest hook up that Emily had to choke on the laugh that bubbled in her throat.

"Thanks for letting me know," Emily replied a small and sly giggle slipping in to her speech.

"Is that a judgement, I hear?" Tyra sounded a little pissy, but Emily let it slide.

"Nope, have a nice day," with that she hung up and felt instantly guilty for the way she had ended the conversation. Then decided to leave it, her job was not to keep Tyra happy. She could only do so much for her friend. Since the rejection by Hot Molly had been her fault that was more than enough guilt for one person to handle.

She placed her phone back on the dresser and made the decision to get in the shower instead of getting back in to bed. Looking out of her windows Emily saw the snow falling gently outside and she realised it was the perfect day to curl up on her empty sofa with a good book.

By early afternoon Earl Bradshaw had managed to seduce the stable girl Evangeline and Emily was a little fed up of the book she was reading; even worse was that it had started off with so much potential. She left her kindle on the edge of the sofa as she went to brew another cup of camomile tea when there was a knock at the door.

The knock sounded familiar and her stomach became momentarily tight with panic.

Leaving the kettle to boil she tip toed carefully over the wooden floor hoping to make as little noise as possible. She reached the door and looked through the peep hole to see Micah on the other side of the heavy wood, she let out a deep sigh of relief and slid the bolt home to open the door for him.

When the door swung inwards Micah smiled and Emily could feel the butterflies starting in her stomach. Good butterflies, terribly good butterflies.

"Hi," was all he said before he stepped over the thresh hold intent painted plainly on his features. His right palm cupped her cheek as his left hand rested on the base of her spine drawing her towards him. His lips covered hers softly in the barest of caresses; before he rested his forehead against hers and spoke to her the sweetest words she could ever hear.

"I missed you," The analytical part of her brain was trying to rationalise the statement, that they only hadn't seen each other in about twelve hours, the other part of her brain... the more Emily part melted. He looked in to her eyes and smiled. "You know you can talk if you want," he said kissing her cheek. Emily pursed her lips and Micah smirked, "Trying not to babble?" he asked and she nodded; which made him chuckle. He kissed her again running his hands through her hair. "I like it when you babble," Emily bit her lip and nodded slowly before she opened her mouth,

"I missed you too," she replied softly.

"That's good to hear," he murmured as his lips found her neck. "I have a surprise for you," he told her after a few minutes of exploration.

"I hate surprises." Emily blurted with abhorrence. Micah paused and glanced at Emily's face; seeing the truth there he stepped back and shrugged his shoulders;

"This is a good surprise..." he told her with his palms raised in surrender, "I haven't invited like fifty people you don't know in to your apartment to celebrate a day that you don't see as an achievement." Emily snorted at that and suddenly became red; Micah leant in and kissed her again as if he couldn't get enough of her. "So... I could stand here in your door way all day, but do you want to know what this surprise is?" Micah took her hand and began to stroke his thumb across her pulse point making her shiver.

"Will I like this surprise?" She asked feeling the heat in her cheeks. Micah's brow furrowed for a second in thought, but then his lips twisted up in to a warm and genuine grin.

"I sure hope so," he took her hand and started to pull her out of her doorway.

"Wait," she uttered under her breath, "I'm not dressed," Micah turned and gave Emily the once over, she was wearing a large warm jumper and a pair of well worn jeans.

"You look perfectly dressed to me..." Micah replied without a hint of sarcasm, "But you might want a coat, its a little chilly." Emily picked up her coat and pulled on her Wellington boots that were a dusty pink with large purple swallowtail butterflies on. When Micah saw them he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Out of all the women he knew Emily was the only one he knew that even though she would be ridiculed she was always herself. Even when she was trying to emulate others there was always a part of her that clung to everything that made Emily Owens, Emily Owens. She pulled her hat on her head and wrapped her scarf around her neck leaving only her eyes visible before pulling on her mittens and turning to Micah.

"I'm all done," she spoke through layers of scarf muffling the words. Micah pulled on a glove and held out his hand to her and without a word she took his hand and was gladly led out of her apartment.

"So where are we going?" Emily asked as there walked hand in hand down the side-walk;

"I can't tell you," Micah replied, "That's what makes a surprise a surprise,"

"We could have stayed inside you know... my sofa is very comfy," Micah choked a little and paused in the middle of the side-walk.

"What are you trying to say Ow... Emily?" He asked his voice raspy. Emily stared at the floor after suddenly realising what she had insinuated.

_Surprise_: noun: An unexpected or astonishing event or fact or a feeling of mild astonishment or shock caused by something unexpected.

Both of the definitions fit the situation and Emily almost laughed at the blatant realism.

"Erm, nothing. I was just stating a fact. It is a very well put together sofa. The cushions are neither too soft or too firm, the fabric isn't too abrasive and its the perfect length so that you can sit on it with your feet tucked under you for warmth."

"You are such a nerd," Micah told her affectionately. "We can go back to your 'very well put together sofa,' but we have to do this first."

"And you still won't tell me what it is?" She asked pulling her scarf further over her nose that had turned an adorable shade of pink. Micah shook his head at the question and pulled her closer to him nestling her in to his side.

"We'll get a cab at the corner and then I may tell you where we are going."

_We'll never get a cab, the snow is making everyone drive like crazy people._ She thought as they got to the corner of her street, but when they got there a car was waiting for them.

"You planned this," she claimed as Micah opened the back door for her and motioned her inside.

"I may have; we have one of those rare days off and I thought we should use it to its full potential." He joined her in the back seat and pulled the door shut behind him. He tapped on the drivers headrest and the car took off in to traffic.

Fifteen minutes later the car pulled up to the side-walk and stopped, Micah passed a few folded notes to the driver and stepped out of the car holding his hand out to Emily to pull her outside with him. When her feet landed on the side-walk she looked up at the building in front of her as delicate snowflakes drifted across her cheeks.

"You brought me to the library?" She asked without really thinking about it, but Micah didn't say anything he just led her up the steps and in to the silent building.

As they stepped through the door she could feel the quiet and it was like coming home, inside the building it was safe and warm and there was no one there to judge her and make her feel bad about herself. There was no one to make her regress in to the girl she was at fourteen. There was only organisation from genre to author and pages and pages of information that she just wanted to devour. She turned to Micah with a grin on her face and he knew he had made the right choice.

"So what are we doing here?" She asked in whispered tones as she danced past the front desk. Micah followed her nodding a silent greeting to the Librarian that was gazing at Emily with barely restrained happiness. He caught up to her and began to take her to the poetry section. "Oooo poetry," she giggled.

"I wanted to introduce you to my favourite poem." he kissed her cheek softly, "You can't judge me for it though." Emily looked at him in a way that told him that she would never judge him no matter what. He pulled off his gloves and walked down the shelf his fingers lightly brushing the spines of the book as he went. He paused when he found the volume he was looking for and he pulled it off the shelf. He sat down at one of the reading desks and pointed to Emily that she should take a seat opposite him. She took the seat in silence and took off her mittens; as soon as the mittens were off her hands; Micah took one in his as he flipped through the book and began to read. "The fountains mingle with the river, And the rivers with the ocean," he carried on reading the poem in hushed tones this intonation and timing perfect making the words roll across the space between them; never looking Emily in the eye until he reached the last lines of the poem, "And the sunlight clasps the earth, And the moonbeams kiss the sea; What are all these kissings worth, If thou kiss not me?"

Emily dabbed at her eye trying to hide the tears, but Micah had noticed them and the right corner of his mouth quirked in a half smile.

"Do you use this on all the girls Doctor Barnes?"

"No, only the ones that are perfect."

"Oh," Emily sat back and crossed her arms, Micah closed the book and tilted his head looking intently at her,

"What is going on in that crazy brain of yours Emily?" he asked and at the use of her name she relaxed.

"I was just wondering how many perfect girls you've done this for." Micah sat back and mirrored Emily's pose;

"I think you know the answer to that," he told her looking more than a little mysterious.

"Do I now?" Emily asked a teasing edge to her voice,

"I thought I made it obvious... well I hope I made it obvious."

"I'm not so sure you have Micah." At the use of his name his teasing face softened to something close to joy. He leant across the table and captured her lips with his own. When he broke the kiss he laced their fingers together and spoke to her directly in words that she could not confuse easily.

"Emily Owens you are the only girl I ever thought would appreciate this poem. You are the only girl that has made me so mad that I could shake you for not noticing it sooner. Ever since that first day at the hospital I've been falling for you. You are warm and considerate, you care more than you should and even when the person of your consideration doesn't appreciate it you never give up on them. Emily..." he went to say something more, but Emily cut him off by kissing him first.

"I warned you that I'm like a barnacle right?" she whispered when she broke the kiss, "What about your proclamation was supposed to stop me latching on to you and never letting go?"

"That was not a proclamation," Micah told her with a grin, Emily chuckled and kissed him again,

"Oh yes it was; proclamation: noun: a public announcement dealing with a matter of great importance. I think you'll find that; Micah Barnes was most definitely a proclamation."

"You think you are so smart," Micah teased, "And just for that; I won't take you for the next part of our date." with that said he pushed Emily's hair behind her ear and rubbed his thumb across her cheek and she felt the callus she had dreamt about.

"There's another part?" she asked coyly, "But how can you improve on moonbeams and kisses?" Micah nodded considering her questions,

"I suppose I can only try." At his response her eyes widened and Micah stood up, "You were right Emily I had this all planned... follow me." She did as she was told following behind Micah unwinding her scarf as she went. He led her through shelf upon shelf of books, they went by the medical journals and anatomy text books, the culinary arts and paper folding, the comic book and graphic novel section and Emily thought they were going to walk straight out of the building when Micah stopped. Emily leant around him and all words escaped her. In the children's area there was a gingham blanket with cushions and a basket.

"You've made a picnic for me?" she asked not quite believing her eyes,

"Well I did tell you Emily if you are on a date with me I'd bring the food."

"Micah colour me dated," she mocked as she sat down next to him on the floor.

"I did tell you Emily, leave it to me." She leant in to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder,

"I have more than learnt my lesson, thank you."

"Here you go with the thanks again," Micah joked.

"Can we go back to the moonbeams and the kisses?" Emily asked as she looked in to Micah's dark brown eyes that as always were brimming with a warmth that was just for her.

"With pleasure," he replied as he cupped her cheek again, "because what are all those kissings worth if you aren't kissing me?" Emily blushed a deep red and her blue eyes were bright.

"From the treatment I'm getting here, I'm assuming not a damn thing."

"Finally she gets it." Micah chuckled,

"Sometimes I'm not as fast as the other kids," she pouted,

"And I wouldn't have it any other way." _Damn it _Emily thought _I'd lost to him before this even began._

"You win," she muttered and Micah grinned,

"I'll hold you to that Owens."

"But where is our next day out going to be?" she asked hopeful that there would be another repeat of today,

"As I keep telling you, leave it to me Emily." She brushed her lips softly across his,

"I think I will."


End file.
